Ohio's youth prisons much-improved, monitor says

Tuesday

Dec 25, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 25, 2012 at 10:26 AM

Some changes to Ohio's youth prison system are a model for the nation, an annual report concludes, while it also highlights continuing issues in the system involving gang violence, education classes and medical care.

Some changes to Ohio’s youth prison system are a model for the nation, an annual report concludes, while it also highlights continuing issues in the system involving gang violence, education classes and medical care.

Department of Youth Services administrators have done commendable work reducing the number of offenders in secure confinement and spreading services for youthful offenders around Ohio, according to the report released this month by a court-appointed monitor.

“I take great pride in the work we have done together to improve conditions in Ohio’s juvenile correctional facilities,” monitor Will Harrell wrote in his report. He oversees an agreement between the state and youth advocates who sued over conditions in the system.

However, Harrell also noted “ongoing deficiencies” that must be addressed.

The Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Stark County, for example, still has too many incidents of violence, Harrell said.

“Changes in programs, youth population, and the addition of the Mental Health Units have resulted in fluctuations in violence reflected through assaults, fights, physical restraints and incidents of seclusion,” the report said.

“Youth gangs still exert a powerful negative influence at Indian River, and concerns remain about the high rate of fights and physical restraints,” it said.

Teacher absences contributed to a number of canceled classes at Indian River and the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility in Delaware, the report said, and some teachers aren’t getting the job done.

At Scioto, “some staff demonstrated an inability to effectively maintain order, and youth in several classrooms slept, walked around, or engaged in conversations unrelated to school,” the report said.

The report found problems with medical files at all four state facilities, and it said records aren’t always accessible to everyone trying to create treatment programs for youth.

In addition, psychiatric services and hours at all the prisons are inadequate, and a disproportionate number of black inmates aren’t placed in mental-health units, the report said.

Four years ago, the state settled a 2004 lawsuit alleging that a culture of violence permeated the youth-prisons system. That settlement called for continuing review of the state’s progress in making agreed-to changes.

The state says that the agency is a different organization today and that the agreement should be concluded, given the progress that has been made.

“We are carrying out our mission of improving Ohio’s future by habilitating youth and empowering families and communities,” youth-prisons spokeswoman Kim Parsell said in a statement.

She noted that the agency is almost finished complying with 1,000 goals and objectives that both sides agreed on.

Attorneys for youth inmates note that the recent report found possible violations of inmates’ federal rights in 44 areas.

The attorneys also say the proposal to end the agreement comes when possible cuts to the youth-prisons budget could “put a severe strain on its ability to achieve constitutional compliance.”

The system once had more than 2,000 juvenile inmates; it now houses about 600.